Chapter 9 - Toying

Jack's lungs burned with the strain of running in such a human fashion. He could feel his heart pounding as he chased after the spirit. Without his staff, and the wind to carry him, it was beginning to take its toll on him. Through corridor after corridor they ran, sometimes cheered on by disembodied laughter voices as they went. It reminded Jack of being human again, running like this without the wind to carry him along. His breathing was heavy as he chased after the orange and black spark. Through corridor after corridor she lead him, until the heavy pushing of a door gave Jack not only time to catch up, but took the two out into the rest of Hallow's world.

For a moment, Jack was shocked as he looked out over the huge, vast land. For nothing he had imagined or pictured for a spirit of Halloween could ever match reality. He had pictured darkness and death, covered in the smell of blood and spirits like a battlefield for the damned. Dark though it was, the artificial moonlight gave plenty to see by, illuminating the huge, steeply sloping hill her castle was stationed on. A path wound down the hill, snaking and twisting, but from here, Jack could see almost everything. Only about a mile or so from the castle were the lights and walls that signalled a town of some sorts.

Between them were huge fields stretching out to the sides for miles, empty for now, but Jack could guess what they would hold. He could see a swirl of fog covering one area of the land, huge rock mountains in the distance with…was that snow? Yes! Snow caps! Covering vast expanses of land below were forests. Acres and acres of forest, towering trees that rustled and moved without a breeze…the moon's soft reflection on what could only be water. A lake? No…even bigger than a lake…almost like she had taken an ocean and trapped it in that space.

He couldn't help but call it beautiful. The whole place brimmed and buzzed with life, blossomed with it. He could see lights in the town; hear the faint howling of wolves in the distance, and bats screeched as they flew across the sky. Everything had energy to it.

"Winter Prince?" a voice asked him, snapping Jack from his reverie. He had almost forgotten what he had been doing. Hallow was walking back up the winding hill path towards him, frowning, head cocked to the side and Jack's staff behind her back. He gave her a huge, face-splitting grin,

"This world is amazing…" it was such a simple truth, three simple words. But Hallow's face seemed to lose its mask for a moment. Jack had not realised one had been in place until he saw it fall. Such an amazing change it was…the barriers of anger, apathy, trickery and mischief were stripped away with the suddenness of that statement, leaving only herself behind. Just like when she had grinned at Jack in the main room, there was an open honesty to her face now.

And that honesty showed her shock and pure joy at his words.

Too soon did she turn her face away, hair hiding any smile until the mask was refastened and she turned back to Jack. But that mask was not perfect now. There was a lightness to her now. Jack considered what he had said. Such simple words. People held compliments close, didn't they?

She was holding out his staff to him,

"Sorry…for taking it…" she was smiling up at him, and Jack gave a smile back as he reached out, closing his hand around the staff as well. This was easy. Compliments and kindness. That's what she needed.

"That's alri-" with a grin, she pulled back from him, jerking him forward as his staff once again slipped from his grasp as she started running again, calling back over her shoulder,

"You trust too easily!" Jack was sure his face was in shock, before he sighed and started running after her again. Compliments and kindness. She was a kid as much as Jamie, and kids liked games.

By the time she finally seemed to stop running, Jack felt more worn out than when he had tried racing Bunny and Tooth together. They had run straight past the town, not even passing through it. For a girl who'd only been awake for an hour, she was a fast little thing.

It was deep into the forest she finally stopped, thick trees and long green grass, bleached by the moonlight. In the center, a huge twisting oak tree, knotted and gnarled, thick-trunked with branches low enough for Jack to grab if he tried. By the time he reached the clearing and re-caught his breath, Hallow had thrown his staff towards his feet, sitting on one of the lower branches.

Jack sighed in relief, smiling slightly as he felt the comforting weight in his hands again. "I don't understand you." He looked up at Hallow. Her smile had faded, replaced with a look of contemplation and blank apathy. Resting his staff against his shoulder, he walked towards her. She didn't move. She watched him from the tree, the moon filtering onto her face. Jack stopped at the bottom of the tree, looking up at her,

"I don't understand you either." Her mouth twitched,

"Why did you come here? Why really?"

Jack could only shrug, "I told you, I want to know you."

"You've met me and you're still here."

"Meeting and knowing aren't the same."

"To know a person can lead to things a simple meeting will not allow"

"…You know you talk funny." Hallow's mouth twitched again. Jack could tell she was fighting a smile, but her eyes remained the same. Such a bright yellow, dulled without a smile.

"I was not born to your time, nor to your country. It's natural I'd speak differently" she said with a shrug, uncrossing her ankles and swinging her feet back and forth on the tree branch. Jack stepped closer, leaning against the trunk

"You called me Prejudiced before." Hallow nodded. Jack looked up at her with a smile, "but aren't you too? You won't even try to get to know me just because I'm a Guardian, you won't let anyone in just because something bad happened to you." He tilted his head. Hallow's feet had stopped moving. Her entire body was still. Orange waves fell around her face, but she made no move to push them back.

"No one explained to you, did they?" she asked softly. Jack tried to lean closer, to hear her better. She was finally talking, finally close to giving him something that might help him make friends with her and he wasn't going to miss out,

"Explained what?"

Hallow turned her head to look at him, her right hand rising up and grasping something around her throat,

"No one explained o you what my job really is. Did they? No one told you what I really do. They just said I guard the realm of spirits, I bet." slowly, an almost sad smile brushed her face, "But you'll soon see. It's so much more than that. There's so much more than you could know. Everything here…everything is different behind what you see. Even me. You'll see soon." The words were obviously supposed to be chilling, to frighten Jack. Thankfully, he only picked up on one thing,

"So. I can stay then?"

A moment of surprise, then a loud, cheery laugh. Yes, Jack thought. He could stay.

Another chapter for you lovely people. I don't know for definite when the next update will be but I can promise it'll be before Valentines day. These next few weeks feature multiple doctors appointments, schoolwork, coursework, holiday prep and college interviews, as well as headaches that haven't gone away since Christmas. Thank you to everyone who is being so patient with me, and to everyone who had followed, favourited or reviewed this story, it really, really does mean a lot that you all like it so much.